Word-counter for type-writers



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. T. BROWN. Word Counter for Type Writers.

gModel.)

Patented June 28,1881.

%z zzelm"ewss QSNW m WW Nv PETERS. Phoh-Lflhugmphcr. Washmglan. D. c.

(ModeL) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

O. T. BROWN. Word Counter for Type Writers. No. 243,500. Patented June28,1881.

I HIH ll lHllllI (ModeL) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

O. T. BROWN. Word Counter for Type Writers. No. 243,500. Patented June28,1881.

%Z7zewlrw: fiverzz or mm amm W WW 4 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES T. BROWN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WORD-COUNTER FOR TYPE-WRITERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 243,500, dated June 28,1881.

Application filed March 9, 1881. (Modch) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES '1. BROWN, a citizen oftheUnited States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Automatic Word-Counter, of which the followingis a specification.

Myinvention relates to the countingofwords, as they are printed orwritten, on machines known as ty 'ie-writers ant printing-ma chines,actuated by the use of keys; and the objects of my machine are, first,to count the words correctly and automatically as the work is being doneon the machine; second, the keeping of a register thereof.

The use of typewriters has increased within a few years to such anextent that any mechanism that will automatically keep an account of thenumber of words written or printed must have value. Much of the writingor printing by means of type-writing machines is done at an agreed pricefor each hundred words. As no automatic counting device has been in use,it has been necessary to count the words to arrive at the number, and inthis way a considerable amount of time has been unavoidably consumed. Itis almost impossible to count words in the ordinary way without makingfrequent errors, while my improved automatic device is so constructedthat perfect accuracy in counting is insured, and the time heretoforenecessarily devoted to counting is thus saved.

' I am aware that numerators and registers of different forms ofconstruction and intended for various purposes have long been in use,some of which have worked automatically but as far as my knowledge andinvestigation extend, they have all diifered quite materially from myform of construction, and in no instance have been capable of the usefor which my invention is intended.

i I attain the object of my invention by the method illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which my automatic word-counter is representedas applied to what is known as a Sholes and Glidden Typeriter, No. 1.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of thetypewriter, showing my invention attached to the rear. Fig. 2 is across-section of lower portion of type-writer looking toward the rearand showing the key arms or levers and connections of my invention tothe same. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of a type-writer, showing a topview of my register. Fig. 4 is a face view of my register, with theface-plate or dial removed. Fig.5 is a vertical cross-section of myregister. Fig. 6 is an interior view of my register with faceplate,forward lever, and forward wheel removed, so as to show the rear wheeland my double lever check device, which acts on said wheel. Figs. 7 andS are front and top views of my double lever check device when removedfrom the register. Fig. 9 represents the U- shaped casting B forsupporting the operatinglever '1, also its other connections.

Similar letters refer to similar parts th roughoutthe several views.

The case A, with its standards X X, secured by means of screws or boltsto the rear portion of a typewriter, constitutes the principal frameworkof myinvention. In the case A and near the side is placed a rock-shaft,G, passing through and extending back to the rear of the case a suitabledistance to place upon it lever D,.which is firmly fixed to saidrock-shaft.

Inside of the case A and next to the rear plate thereof I place theupright lever F, cut away in the center so as not to interfere with thecenter shalt, and which is also firmly secured to said rock-shaft, andis of a length about equal to the inside diameter ot'said case. I alsoattach to the forwardportion of said rock-shaft G, and near the frontplate of the case a second lever, M, which is placed upon said shaftloosely, so as to admit of a partial rotation of the lever upon theshaft. I place through the center of the case A a second shaft, B, whichextends through the front plate a sufficient distance to hold one of theindicating-hands Y, which is secured thereto. On this center shaft,B,.and firmly attached thereto, is placed wheel H, having on itsperiphery one hundred ratchet teeth. I also firmly secure on the centershaft, B, the cam O, and also place on said shaft a second wheel, N,which has on its periphery one hundred ratchet'teeth, this second wheelhein g placed on the forward portion of the shaft and immediatelyforward of lever M. The wheel N is fitted loosely to said center shaft,so as to revolve thereon, and the hub of this wheel is so made as toproject out through and beyond the front plate or dial of the case, soas to allow the attachment of a second indicating-hand, Y, which issecured thereto.

On the lever F is placed a pallet or pawl, I, which is pressed firmlyagainst the ratchetteeth on wheel H by spring L, this spring bein gsoldered or otherwise securely attached to the edge of said lever, andhas a side projection at the end which presses on the ratchet. On leverM is also placed a pallet or pawl, O, which is pressed against theratchet-teeth on wheel N by the spring I, which is soldered or otherwisesecured to the lever at point Z. I prefer to make spring P ofconsiderable length, and to have it bent as shown in the drawings,

so that by pressing against the inside of the case it exerts sufficientforce to hold lever M firmly against cam C. As will be seen in thedrawings, lever M is cut away in circular shape for a short distance inthe middle, with the exception of the tooth B, which acts on the cam'O,the part cut away being for the purpose of permitting the cam to workfreely. I also secure to the inside of the case the ratchetspring K,which presses into and on the teeth of wheel H and prevents the backwardmovement of said wheel. I likewise place inside of the case a furtherratchet'spring, Q, which presses upon the teeth of wheel N and pre ventsit from turning back, and also acts as a brake to prevent said wheelfrom moving forward more than one tooth at a time.

To prevent the wheel H from being thrown forward more than one tooth ata time, I use the double-lever device N-, which is shown in the drawingsby Figs. 7 and S. This double lever consists of a thin metal plate,which works on a pivot, d, attached to the under side and passing intothe rear plate of the case. On the face of this lever-plate are insertedtwo pins, 1) and c, of wire or other suitable material, which are longenough to come in contact with the lever F and the wheel H respectively.

When my register is in use and lever F is thrown forward it strikes onthe projecting pin b, and the movement of the plate is such as to causethe pin 0 to pass in between the teeth of the wheel and prevent anyfurther forward movement of said wheel after the same has advanced thespace of one tooth.

It will be seen that my double lever plate turns upon such an axis thatthe action of the lever F on the pin bin one direction causes the pin 0to press on the periphery of the wheel H in the direction of this axis,producing a double lever movement, which effectual] ylocks and preventsany further revolution of said wheel. The plate of my double leverdevice, as will be seen by reference to the drawings, is of such a shapeand is pivoted to the rear plate of case A at such a point that as soonas lever F releases the pin 1), the plate, of its own weight, falls backand the wheel H is relieved from the action of pin 0.

It will be'seen that by means of this lockin g device the use offriction brakes or springs is done away with on wheel H, thus permittingthe register to be driven by the application of very little power, theadditional power required in operating a type-writer with my attachmentbeing so small as not to be felt by the operator. The adjustment of mydouble lever locking device is such that the varying power with whichthe space-bar is struck in slow and rapid operating of the typewriterdoes not affect the accuracy of the count.

The drawings show a further spring, J, placed inside of the case on theopposite side from the ratchet-springs K and Q, so as to press upon theupper end of bar F, for the purpose of holding said lever steady when myregister is in use; but I do not consider this spring necessary, and donot therefore include it in my claims.

It will thus be readily seen that the mechanism inside of case Aconsists of the shafts G and B. the levers F and M, the ratchetwheels Hand N, the cam U, the pallets or pawls I and O, the double lever plateN, the tooth It, the springs K, Q, and J, which together act, when myword-counter is in operation, to move the indicating-hands Y and Y onthe face-plate or dial. 1 have already referred to lever D, with whichis connected the remaining portions of my device, and by means of whichthe same is operated by the action of the type-writer, piinting-machine, or cali graph when in use. Connected to this lever D by therods E and E, screw-threaded at their ends, are the bars S and T, barfibeing attached to rod E'and bar T to red E; the rods passing throughthe leverD near the ends and having nuts to hold them in place. BarS isastraight bar of wood or other light material, placed under the levers orarms of the typewriter or printing-machinethat move the letters,figures, and punctuation-marks. The bar Sis held in position by the rodwhich is held to the oscillating bar I) by the screw-threaded end and anut, so that it is adjustable when necessary. The ends of the bar S bearupward against the key-arms, which act as fulcrums-that is to say, whena key at or near the end U is depressed the key-arm at the end W is afnlerum, and vice versa. In order that the movement of the bar at thepointV and the action of the setting device on the register may beuniform when operated by any of the keys, the top of the bar S iscutaway from the ends toward the point V, so that the keys nearer tothat point do not strike it until their movement is partially' completedand the throw given to it by them is proportionably reduced.

The second bar, T, which is placed over the arms or levers moved oractuated by the spacebar, is likewise made of wood or other lightmaterial, and is not in any way affected by the action of the arms thatmove the letters, figures, and puctuation-marks, but is alone depressedby means of the space-bar arms. Bar T is connected to and with thesespace-bar arms by a wire or metal of other suitable form, bent so as tohook under the arms at their lower edges, and screwed up into or throughthe said bar T, bar T being firmly fixed or screwed to the U-shapedcasting B, of brass or other suitable material, the said casting Bturning on centers 0 and O.

The operation of my new automatic wordcouuter is as follows: The actionof the arm in printing the first letter of a word depresses the bar S,thus turning lever D and rock-shaft G, said shaft carrying lever F andpallet or pawl I backward one tooth on wheel H, where it remains. Whenthe letters of a word have been written or printed, and the operatorbears down upon the space-bar used for the necessary spacing between thewords, this action at once depresses bar T, turning lever D, rockshaftG, and lever F, carrying pallet 1 forward, so that wheel H is movedaround the space of one ratchet-tooth, causing the hand Y to count oneword on the dial, levers F and D and pallet I remaining stationary, andnot being affected by any future depressions of the spacebar untilpallet I is carried back by the striking of the first letter in the nextword in the manner above described. This operation is continued untilone entire revolution has been made by wheel H and one hundred wordscounted on the face-plate. As wheel H coinpletes an entire revolution,lever M, which in the meantime has been gradually thrown back by theaction of the earn 0 on the tooth R, is released, and, being thrownforward by the pressure of the spring P, moves, by means of the palletor pawl O, the wheel N the distance or space of one of the teeth on theperiphery, causing the hand Y on the dial to move forward one space,thus registering one hundred words.

My device, as shown in the drawing, with the two wheels, with onehundred teeth on the periphery of each, is capable of counting andregistering ten thousand words; but it will be readily seen that by amere duplication of parts a third or fourth wheel could be added ifdesired, and the counting capacity thus increased to any requireddegree. Whenever the operator wishes to start a new count, the hands, bymeans of a key, can be readily turned forward to the zerostarting-point.

The case and interior mechanism of my register may be made of brass orother suitable ma. terial, while the connections between the registerand type-writer may be likewise made of brass, and the bars under andover the arms of the type-writer of either wood or metal.

hat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, for a register, of the case A, the levers F and M,the shafts G and B, the wheels H and N, the cam (J, the pallets or pawlsI and O, the double lever lock N, the pins 1) and c, the tooth It, theratchet-springs K and Q, and the springs L and P, all arranged andoperated substantially as described, and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination, in a register, of the wheel H, the lever F, and thedouble lever lock N with the pins 1) and 0, arranged and operatedsubstantially as described.

3. The double lever lock N, turning on pivot d, with pins Z) and c,actuated by a lever, substantially as described, and for the purposespecified.

4. The combination of the rock-shaft G with the lever D, the rods E andE, and bars S and T, actuated by the pressure of the arms of atype-writer, printing-machine, or caligrapli, and arranged and operatedsubstantially as described, and for the purpose specified.

CHARLES T. BROWN.

\Vitnesses:

FREDERICK O. Goon WIN, FRED. O. HALE.

